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Punxsy wrestlers have tough night on mat in Clearfield

CLEARFIELD — Just as the weather was rainy outside Thursday night, the tough forecast inside the Clearfield High School gymnasium turned out to be the case.

The Punxsy wrestlers claimed only three victories against a veteran Clearfield squad to fall by a 63-12 score.

"Overall in the match, nothing went our way," explained Chucks head coach Eric Eddy. "You have nights like this, and I told the kids it is better to have it now than later (in the season). We were just outwrestled tonight."

The Chucks scratched out three victories on the night from Joel Bowers (126), Perry Arrington (145) and Travis Perry (182). The visitors almost doubled the amount but saw Kaleb Young (132) drop an overtime decision and Eli Lambiotte have his match turn in Clearfield's favor late.

"All of our wrestlers are wrestling up in weight class right now. Once we get the two-pound growth allowance we will be able to move everyone down to their more natural weights," explained the Punxsy leader.

Following two opening Bison falls, Bowers was able to get the Chucks on the board.

The junior started rough but reversed Jonathan Sponsler and gained control. Bowers controlled from there to take away the 15-2 major decision.

One of the best and tactical matches of the next followed at 132. A quality freshman, Young, battled a quality senior in Clearfield's District IX two-time champion Dylan Graham.

Young worked and shot into Graham various times over the three periods. The only scoring after the six minutes of regulation was an escape by each wrestler. On the only shoot of the bout by the home wrestler, Graham was able to record a takedown in the overtime period for the 3-1 decision.

Leading 21-4, Clearfield sent Zach Fox to the mat against Punxsy's Perry Arrington in the 145 match.

Arrington was strong on his feet and on the bottom, which turned out to be enough, as he posted the lone visiting fall of the night in 5:16 over Fox.

The Bison continued on its pinning of the Chucks wrestlers with three in a row for the 152, 160 and 170 weight classes.

At 182, Punxsy put its final points on the board. Wrestling up a weight class, Perry controlled the match from start to finished against Josh Kennedy. The Clear-field wrestler slammed Perry two times, but Perry would win the mat war by a 5-1 decision.

The home dominance continued with two falls and a forfeit to take the match to 57-12. In the 106 match, Lambiotte faced Logan Gilbert, whom the freshman had yet to defeat in his wrestling career to this point.

Lambiotte worked his way to a 9-4 lead midway through the second period where he made a costly mistake. Gilbert reversed the Chucks wrestler and turned the move into a pin in 3:37.

"Eli made a mistake but he was controlling the match," added Eddy.

With the points from the 106 bout, Clearfield wrapped up its 63-12 win.

"We know where we have to improve and where we need to work," concluded the Punxsy coach. "It was only our second match of the season and will only continue to get better."

The Chucks will now have a long layoff over the holiday break. Punxsy will not take to the mat competitively again until its home opener in two weeks on Thursday, Jan. 3 against Curwensville with junior high at 6 p.m. and varsity beginning at approximately 7 p.m.

For a full box score from the match, see Saturday's edition of The Spirit.